Fatal Attraction
by Lyralocke
Summary: Kataang, oneshot. She was going to be the death of him. But if that was the case, he welcomed the abyss.


_Don't ask me where this came from I don't know. It makes no sense at all, so... geh._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar_

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Poison. That's what she was. Poison in his veins, slowly pumping through him and tearing him to pieces from the inside. Stripping his bloodstream raw until it was just her, occupying every fiber of him, filling up his heart and mind. She raced through him like fire, always in his thoughts until he was just burned, all the time.

It was a fatal attraction, how he felt for her.

"Are you paying attention?"

Aang glanced up at Zuko. He shook his head, sighing. The young Avatar had been sitting just out of sight of the Western Air Temple's central fountain for nearly an hour, elbow on his knee and chin on his hand. He had been gazing blankly at the fountain the entire time, watching the achingly beautiful young waterbender practice her craft without being aware of an audience. No wonder he hadn't noticed Zuko approach him. She could take up all of his attention effortlessly.

Zuko sat down beside him, curiously following his line of sight.

"Ah," Zuko sighed in a moment of clarity. "The waterbender, of course."

"Her name is Katara," Aang pointed out tonelessly, the words coming out of him without conscious thought.

"You're a good student, Aang," Zuko said lightly. "But whenever she's around, you can't focus on anything else."

"I can't help it," Aang grumbled. "She gets to me."

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked with a bored sigh, lying back on the cool stone floor.

Katara smiled softly, half-lidded eyes focused on the water between her hands. Aang's eyes were drawn to those smiling lips like a magnet. She started chewing on her lower lip in concentration and Aang's mouth went very dry.

"Does she even know what she does to me?" he asked hoarsely, burying his face in his hands.

"Probably," Zuko shrugged. "That's what girls do. Drive guys crazy."

Aang shot Zuko a shrewd glance between his fingers. "No offense, but… why am I talking to you about this?" he asked slowly.

Zuko closed his eyes comfortably, folding his hands behind his head. "Who else are you going to talk to?" he asked frankly. "Her protective older brother? Or maybe the earthbender who would tell Katara about it just to see you squirm?"

Aang was silent for a while. "Good point," he muttered. "Do you have any advice?"

"Well… my uncle always says you have to recognize the problem before you can find a solution," Zuko shrugged again. "What's the problem?"

Aang thought for a while, eyes never leaving Katara. He felt his palms dampening with sweat and licked his dry lips. He sighed. "Katara's the problem," he muttered. "She doesn't hear me."

"What do you mean?"

Momo splashed into the fountain, chasing Katara's water whip and prompting her to laugh. Aang felt his chest tighten uncomfortably when that musical laugh reached his ears. He groaned.

"I've tried to tell her how I feel," he said quietly, voice straining over the words as his eyes continued following her graceful movements. "But something always gets in the way."

"Let your actions speak for you," Zuko suggested almost instantly. Aang glanced at him for just a moment, not sparing too much time on him when he could be looking at her. Zuko shrugged again. "It's just the way we do things in the Fire Nation. I don't know if you've noticed, but we tend to be pretty direct as a country."

Aang let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, I've noticed," he said with a hint of a smile. "Well… I've tried that too." Zuko seemed to be waiting for him to continue. "I kissed her."

"Whoa, like an actual full lip contact kiss?"

"Yeah."

"And she still doesn't hear you?"

"Not as far as I can tell."

"Sorry kid, you're beyond help," Zuko said with yet another careless shrug.

Aang let out a groan of frustration, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. "That's not good enough," he grumbled. "I can't get her out of my head!"

Zuko sat up, waving a hand in front of Aang's face, which was still buried in his hands. Zuko thought for a moment, rolled his eyes, and leaned around the corner so Katara could see him. He started waving with one arm, pressing a finger to his lips with the other.

"She's all I ever think about," Aang ranted on, unaware that Katara was curiously and silently approaching him. "It's driving me insane. My entire world revolves around her, every decision I make somehow involves her."

Katara frowned in confusion when Zuko got to his feet and gestured for her to take his spot on the floor. She did so, bewildered, and Zuko walked away with a smirk on his face.

"She's like poison," Aang sighed. Katara's eyes widened a little in surprise when she recognized that he was talking about her. "She's got me… there's no cure for it, I just have to wait for it to take me over." She didn't seem sure whether she should smile or shout at him, so she remained silent. "The waiting stinks, I guess. But the anticipation of that day when I'm just hers completely… that's not so bad at all."

He groaned again, face still in his hands, and Katara felt herself smiling. She reached over and placed a hand on his back. He jumped in surprise, aware that Zuko would never do something like that and recognizing her touch. He stared at her, mouth hanging open and a blush creeping up to his ears.

"That day you're waiting for…" she began quietly, smirking at him. "Well… don't wait anymore."

Aang continued staring at her. "What…"

She took his chin in her hand and pulled him closer, smiling at him in a way that made his mouth go dry all over again.

"You're mine," she said lowly. "Completely."

The next thing he knew, her lips were moving softly against his. Those very same lips that had become all he could think about for weeks. All at once he had her in his arms, pulling her as close as she could get and making her laugh into his mouth. He didn't quite remember deciding to do that. But then, he couldn't quite remember anything at the moment, his own name included.

She got to him. And apparently, she knew exactly what she was doing to him.

Oh… she was going to be the death of him.

If that was the case, Aang thought vaguely upon feeling her hands sliding down his back, he welcomed the abyss. He embraced this fatal attraction.

This apparently mutual fatal attraction.


End file.
